


i want to believe

by bakageyamaaa



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, M/M, Slow Build, any other warnings will be in the beginning notes of each chapter, i have commitment issues, implied daisuga, mulder! oikawa, scully! iwaizumi, this is my first fic im sorry, x files au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-21
Updated: 2016-03-26
Packaged: 2018-05-22 08:48:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6072820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bakageyamaaa/pseuds/bakageyamaaa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Agent Iwaizumi, are you familiar with the so-called X Files?" </p><p> </p><p>X Files/Haikyuu AU with Iwaizumi as Scully and Oikawa as Mulder.</p><p> (you don't have to watch xfiles to read,, and no spoilers)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Hajime briskly walked down the hallway towards Assistant Director Sawamura’s office. The faces of the other agents in the hallway formed a blur around him as he tried to imagine what his first real assignment would be, or what his new office would look like, or more importantly, who his new partner was. He was still fairly new to the Bureau, with no solid assignment to come to him within his first year out of med school. He mainly worked with autopsy reports in high profile murder cases, which was interesting, but what Hajime really wanted was to be out in the field. He never had a partner to work with before, so the thought of finally having another agent to rely on was exciting and nerve wracking.

When Hajime opened the door to the AD’s office, there was an air of sternness in the room. It was a simple, stereotypical office room, with pictures of the current president and the cabinet on the wall, an american flag in the corner, and an office desk swallowed by papers in the corner. On the far side of the room from where he stood was a small conference table which three men sat at. Hajime swiftly walked over to the chair facing his three superiors and mumbled a greeting as he took his seat at the table.

Hajime immediately recognized the man in the middle as AD Sawamura. He was a fairly tall, buff man with crew-cut brown hair. He had known him since his first day at the Bureau, and he’s been giving him almost all of his assignments since then. The man to the left of Sawamura he believed to be Assistant Director Sugawara, and while Hajime never had any relations with him, Sawamura talked about him quite often. He seemed a lot friendlier than the other, with softer facial features and pale skin. He had silver hair, despite being in his 30’s.

The man to the right of Sawamura wasn’t anyone he had seen around the Bureau, but just at a glance, Hajime could tell that he was most likely someone superior to Sawamura and Sugawara. The stranger was an older man, with wrinkles covering his stern face. His blond hair was loosely pushed back with a headband, showing peppered roots. The man was smoking a cigarette, which caused the room to smell putrid.

Sawamura was the first to speak. “Thank you for coming in today, Agent Iwaizumi. Now, looking through your files, we can all see that you’ve done exceptional work here so far at the Bureau, and you’ve made quite a name for yourself as a scientist and medical doctor.”

Hajime silently nodded.

AD Sugawara spoke up. “Iwaizumi, have you ever heard of an Agent named Oikawa Tooru?”

Hajime didn’t have to think twice to respond. “Of course, he has quite a reputation around the Bureau. He’s an Oxford educated psychologist who wrote his well renowned thesis on serial killers and the occult that helped catch a strand of serial killers in 1990. I’ve also heard of his respectable work in violent crimes.” He grins before adding, “He had a, um, nickname at the academy: Spooky-kawa.”

Sugawara nods and looks at the papers in his lap. “Well, Agent Oikawa has recently ventured into an unassigned project outside the Bureau mainstream in an attempt to feed his obsession with the unexplained. Are you familiar with the so called X Files?”

“Well, just the basics; it’s a bunch of cases deemed unsolvable by the FBI. Nothing more than a collection of seemingly paranormal situations, from what I’ve heard.”

The three men look at each other before Sawamura spoke, “Well, we’re officially assigning you to the X Files, Agent Iwaizumi. Your new partner is Agent Oikawa. We hope that your scientific insight will help shed a different light on the project.”

Hajime didn’t like the sound of this. “Assistant Director, are you asking me to debunk the X Files?”

“We’re asking for your scientific input on these cases, and we believe that you’re best qualified for the task.” Sugawara interrupted. He handed Hajime a file from the pile of papers in his lap. “This folder has all of the papers you will need. If you have any questions, you can ask Assistant Director Sawamura. That will be all, Agent.” Hajime mumbled his thanks before taking his leave.

As he followed the vague directions that were scrawled on a sticky note attached to the folder, he wondered what he could’ve possibly done to get stuck with this assignment. Not only was he stuck with an assignment not even recognized by the Bureau, but he was stuck with a partner obsessed with aliens and the paranormal. It was shaping up to be quite an interesting week for Agent Iwaizumi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp,, this is my first fic i've been committed to finishing.
> 
> hopefully i'll update it asap,,
> 
> i'm still fairly new to publishing my writing, so kudos/comments are greatly appreciated!
> 
> go yell at me on tumblr @bakageyamaaa


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *warnings for minor gore (body decay), but nothing serious*

After finding his way through the maze of shelves, Hajime knocked on the door at the end of the hallway. 

A sarcastic voice responded from inside the room, “Sorry, nobody down here but the FBI’s most unwanted.” 

Taking that as an invitation, Hajime cautiously opened the door and walked into the room. 

The room was small and crowded, with dusty file cabinets filling most of the space. The walls were covered with newspaper clippings and blurry pictures of UFO’s and cryptids. On the furthest wall below a shelf of folders was a poster of a flying object with the words “I Want To Believe” written in large white lettering. At the center of the room there was a desk covered in papers and folders. 

Sitting behind the desk was the man Hajime assumed to be Agent Oikawa. He was a young man, maybe in his late 20’s, with disheveled chestnut hair. He wore a forest green sweater and large circular frames. In his hand was an old worn volleyball that he must have been tossing around before Hajime came in. 

“Oh, well you must be Agent Iwaizumi!” he exclaimed before tossing the volleyball to the side and standing to introduce himself. “I’m Agent Oikawa, your new partner.” They shook hands before Oikawa sarcastically gestured to the space. “Welcome to the basement!” 

“Yes, um, hello. I’m excited to wor-” Oikawa cut him off before he was able to finish his pleasantries. 

“So Iwa-chan, what did you do to get stuck down here?” Oikawa said with a sardonic smile. 

“Well, as I was going to say before you interrupted me, I’m actually excited to be working with you, Agent Oikawa.” Hajime countered. 

Oikawa laughed as he made his way over to a small stand on the right side of the room. “Ha, yeah right! You don’t have to lie to me, I know the Assistant Directors and that Smoking Man sent you down here to set me straight. Anyways, I just got a call about a case, so you came down here just in time.” He began to shuffle through the papers strewn atop the stand.

“All I was told about this assignment is that they want my scientific input on these seemingly paranormal cases.” Hajime confirmed as he took a seat in a shabby old chair near the desk. 

“Ha! Found it!” Oikawa held the film slide in his hand and raised it in the air triumphantly. He placed the film into the projector in the stand and turned it on and went to turn off the lights.    
“Let’s get down to business. So, Iwa-chan, how do you feel about aliens?” Oikawa asked with a glint with his eye. 

Hajime couldn’t believe this. “Come again?” 

Oikawa smirked before restating his question. “You heard me; aliens. Extraterrestrials? Little green men? Unidentified Flying Objects?” He leaned on the stand as he stared at Hajime, eager to hear his response.    
“I don’t follow with how this is necessary information for a case.” Hajime dodged the question. Oikawa sighed in disappointment before clicking a small remote in his hand that caused the projector in the stand to come to life.

The white sheet hanging on the far side of the room flipped to the image of a decaying body lying face down on a forest ground. From the state of the victim’s decomposition, they were probably there for at least a month before being found. The clothes on the corpse were dirty and torn. Surrounding the victim was a stringy white substance that resembled a cocoon, but was manually cut open down the center.

“This is Kiyoko Shimizu, a wildlife officer in Upstate New York. She was found by a family of hikers early this morning after having been missing for a week.” 

Hajime was confused. “And how does this have anything to do with aliens or UFO’s?”

Oikawa clicked to the next slide. There was another wildlife officer, with the same body decay and wrapped in the same material as the last. However, this victim was pictured face up, giving a better view of the state of the body. The corpse looked mummified, with the grey, rotting skin stretched across the skeleton. The clothes were filthy and tattered like the first victim, but there were many more holes noticeable from the angle the image was taken. 

“Kazuhito Narita, disappeared last week, found this morning.” He clicked through 5 more slides, all showing more decaying victims. The slide after the last victim was different, however. It was an image of a group of 8 wildlife officers, all posing on a dirt path in the middle of a forest. 

“This is the last picture taken of all of them together prior to going on an expedition out into the forest to take wood samples to catalog a week ago. Do you notice anything different about this picture though, Iwa-chan?” Oikawa pondered. 

After a few glances at the image, he realized what Oikawa was poking at. “There’s 8 officers, but only 7 bodies.” 

The smile crept back onto Oikawa’s face. “You got it! I’m surprised, you’re a bit sharper than I expected.”

Hajime rolled his eyes. “But you said that this was taken a week ago. That’s impossible, the bodies couldn’t have possibly decayed to this state in that amount of time. And once again, how does this have any connection to little green men?” 

“And that’s where the X File comes in.” Oikawa responded. “And more along the lines of ‘little green parasites.’ The local coroner has confirmed that the evidence in the bodies and the holes in the victims’ clothes all point to a type of parasitic organism, but the evidence doesn’t match up to any known organism. The web material that each body was encased in hasn’t been identified yet either.” Oikawa turned off the projector and walked over to his desk. He began to rummage through the papers in search of something. 

Hajime tried to process all of this. “It’s quite a case, but what exactly can we do here? It seems like more of a job for the CDC, if anything.”

Oikawa walked up to him and handed him a plane ticket. “Well, that 8th wildlife officer is out there, so as long as we get to him before our mystery parasites do, we have a good chance of cracking this case before anyone else would need to get involved hopefully. The CDC is on hold however, if anything gets out of hand.” 

Hajime took the ticket from the other agent and stood up. “Well, then I’ll go pack a bag. Looks like we have a plane to catch.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so if anyone's curious im going to be basing this one on season 1 ep 20 because i love that episode and i also really like the idea of oikawa in scully's neon jacket
> 
> also hopefully ill start getting to the good stuff in the next chapter or so (yay backstories and character development, kind of) 
> 
> im surprised ive gotten this far honestly and im sorry i dont have a set "update day" or anything im just gonna write whenever i have time
> 
> once again, kudos/comments are extremely appreciated!! im new to publishing my writing so anything is helpful,,
> 
> my tumblr is @bakageyamaaa if anyone wants someone to cry abt the xfiles finale with


	3. Chapter 3

After a long, turbulent flight and a five hour car ride through dense wood, the agents finally turned into a small, dirt clearing. Hajime parked the car next to an old pickup truck before getting out and walking over to the small congregation of officers on the far end of the clearing. Oikawa stayed behind to grab their bags out of the trunk. 

All three of the officers were wearing dark green windbreakers with the local fish and wildlife department’s insignia on the back, along with hiking boots and jeans. The one on the far left was a tall, raven haired man with some of the worst bed head that Hajime had ever seen. The officer on the right was considerably more toned than the other one, and had spiked black and white hair. He was having a side conversation with the shortest of the three, who looked very unamused. 

“Oy! Are you the FBI agents that are supposed to help us?” the one on the left called to Hajime as he walked closer. 

“Yes, um hello. I’m Agent Iwaizumi and over there is Agent Oikawa.” Hajime responded as he came to a halt in front of the trio. After hearing his name, Oikawa waved and sprinted over to join up with the group. “Yes, hello! We’re excited to work with you all on this case!” He added, slightly out of breath.

“Yeah, we’re glad you’re here. I’m Officer Kuroo, and this is Officers Bokuto and Akaashi.” he responded as he pointed to the owl man and the brunet respectively. The mention of their names pulled the other two officers out of their conversation as they turned to face the agents. 

Akaashi was the first to speak. “It’s nice to know you’re here. I hate to admit it, but we’re stumped. I’ve been working these woods for years, and I’ve never come across anything like this.” 

Bokuto interjected as well. “They told us it was some kind of parasite, I think? I packed some extra bug spray in the truck, but I doubt it’ll keep us safe from whatever killed the others.” It got quiet for a moment after mentioning the victims before Oikawa spoke up. 

“Well hopefully we won’t have to deal with the mystery parasite. All we need to do is find our missing officer.”

“You mean Kozume, right?” Kuroo interrupted. 

Oikawa was confused. “I’m sorry, who?”

“Officer Kenma was the only one who wasn’t found. You’re talking about finding him, right?” Kuroo repeated, this time with a firmness in his tone. 

Hajime could tell that the mention of the missing officer struck a chord in the others, so he spoke with caution and reassurance. “Yes, we’re hoping that he’ll be able to help explain whatever we’re dealing with, considering he’s probably had some first hand experience with this, um, parasite.” 

Kuroo nodded his head in agreement. They all stood for a moment in the awkward silence.

“Well, that’s enough standing around! Let’s get moving!” Oikawa broke the silence. Akaashi responded. “Yes, we should probably get going. The sun is going to set soon, and the drive up the mountain is about an hour and a half. And driving in the dark on that terrain isn’t very pleasant, to say the least.”

“I call shotgun!” Bokuto yelled as he started running towards the muddy, onyx colored Jeep on the other side of the truck. Hajime sighed before walking away from the officers and over to Oikawa, who was putting on an azure jacket over his cardigan. 

“Stylish” Hajime chuckled when he saw the bright pink and green stripes adorning the sides of the coat. A slight blush tinted Oikawa’s cheeks as he zipped up the front. “I haven’t been this far up north in awhile, so I needed to borrow this from a friend.” 

Hajime raised his eyebrows. “A girlfriend, I assume?” 

The other agent laughed in response. “Not exactly.” Oikawa picked up his bag off of the ground and started walking towards the Jeep. “We should get going, the others are probably waiting.” 

“Oh yeah, you’re right.” Hajime went to grab his bag as well and followed Oikawa. They threw their belongings in the trunk of the vehicle and climbed into the back seat, squishing next to Kuroo. 

“Took you two long enough. Time to get going!” Bokuto remarked from the front seat. Once everyone was settled and seatbelts were buckled, Akaashi pulled out of the spot between the two other vehicles and began the drive up the mountain and further into the dense forest. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes hi sorry im back
> 
> the mental illness hit and i couldnt really do anything for like a week
> 
> but yeah look another disappointing short chapter 
> 
> i rlly appreciate all kudos/comments/feedback!!!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *slight tw for minor gore (im just talking abt a wound its not too bad)*

By the time they made it to the furthest point up the mountain, it was already late afternoon. The sun was beginning to fall, turning the sky a fiery gold. The transition set the leaves of the trees ablaze with reflections of the bright colors. Just ahead of their vehicle was a small, two story wooden cabin. The structure seemed very old, with dusty windows and missing tiles on the roof. From all outside perspective, it seemed vacant.

As soon as Akaashi brought the car to a stop, they all piled out. Being the one that had to sit in the middle of the backseat, Hajime was the last to exit the vehicle. Once he did, he stretched his arms in the air as a yawn escaped his mouth.

“Awh, don’t tell me you’re tired just yet, Iwa-chan. The party’s just getting started!” Oikawa teased as he fished two flashlights out of his bag in the trunk. He tossed one to the other agent, who clumsily caught it.

“I’m not tired, just a little worn out from all of the traveling.” Hajime defended himself as he pulled his handgun out and held it underneath his flashlight. “Okay everyone, Agent Oikawa and I will go check the cabin for Officer Kenma or any kind of intruder before we move in to continue the investigation.” He announced.

“I’m coming in too.” Kuroo responded. “I doubt you two even know what Officer Kenma looks like, so you’ll need me to help.”

Hajime nodded at him in response. “Alright, let's go.”

The three of them cautiously approached the front door of the cabin. Kuroo took the lead when they reached the door to unlock it using a key all of the officers have in their possession and proceeded to open the door. They all slowly moved inside the cabin, leaving the entranceway open.

The first floor was one large open area divided into two different spaces; a lounge area and a kitchen. To the left was the lounge, with an unlit, soot filled fireplace surrounded by a few plain brown couches. The right wall was lined with a refrigerator, a stove, cabinets and shelves. There was also a long, picnic style table on the right side covered in dirty dishes, maps, and field reports. To their immediate left next to the door was a small staircase that presumably lead to the second floor of the building.

Hajime flipped the light switch on the wall, but to no avail. “I wonder what cut the power.” He pondered aloud.

“You two check down here, I’ll go check the second floor.” Kuroo informed as he made his way up the stairs.

“I don’t know about you, Iwa-chan, but this place seems pretty empty to me.” Oikawa remarked as he looked out the windows on the far side of the room. “Oh! There seems to be a backup generator out back. We could use that to turn the lights back on!”

“Hopefully we won’t need to stay long enough for that to be necessary.” Hajime called back to him.

“Agents! Get up here! I need some help!” Kuroo suddenly yelled from upstairs. They shot worried glances at each other before racing up the stairs to the officer’s call.

The second floor was another large, open room, but this time the walls were lined with cots. In the farthest corner of the room behind one of the beds was Kuroo kneeling next to another figure. 

“Is that Officer Kenma?” Hajime asked as he cautiously approached. Once Kuroo nodded, he let his guard down and rushed over to them. “Alright, move over then, I should be able to help. Oikawa, go get my first aid kit out of the car.” Oikawa hurriedly stuffed his gun back into his holster as he raced back down the stairs. 

Until he got back however, Hajime would have to make due with what he had. He placed his gun on the bed to his left as he kneeled down and shone his flashlight in front of the officer to get a better look. 

Officer Kenma was curled up in the corner, barely conscious. His frame was small and fragile, and his uniform was dirtied. He had shoulder length, dirty blond hair with prominent dark brown roots that was tangled and matted with dirt and leaves. There was a large, bloody gash on his right cheek, which Hajime moved in closer to examine. 

“Officer Kenma, can you hear me?” Hajime said. He responded with a small groan and a shift of his position. Both Hajime and Kuroo sighed in relief at the response. “Okay, good. My name is Agent Iwaizumi, from the FBI. I’m here with my partner, Agent Oikawa, and your fellow officers Kuroo, Akaashi, and Bokuto. I’m also a medical doctor, so I’m going to examine your wounds. Do you understand?” Kenma slowly raised his head and mumbled a weak “yes”.

Hajime held his head as he gently shone a light in his eyes. “He doesn’t seem to have any traumatic injury. He just seems scared and dehydrated.” He observed.  At this moment, Oikawa ran back up the stairs with a small, black bag with a red cross on the side. He rushed over to the corner where the others were gathered and placed it on the bed next to Hajime. 

“Thank you.” He mumbled as he immediately reached for the bag. He reached in and dug around until he was able to pull out some bandages, a bottle of isopropyl alcohol, a few other disinfectants, some sterile cotton swabs, a container of pain killers, and a water bottle. He also grabbed a plain, black hair band from a side pocket of the bag to loosely tie Kenma’s hair out of his face and away from the wound. 

He opened the water bottle and slowly raised it to the officer’s face. “Here Kenma, drink this. You need something in your stomach before I can give you any pain killers.” Kenma immediately came to life at the mention of water, and eagerly grabbed the bottle and gulped down most of it. “Woah, easy there,” Hajime said as he took the bottle back. “We don’t want you drinking too fast. Here, take this now.” He handed Kenma a single, blue pill from the container. He put the pill in his mouth and took another large swig of water before gulping it down.

“Okay, good. Now, I’m going to have to clean your wound, and it is going to sting, so prepare yourself.” Hajime opened the bottle of isopropyl alcohol and poured some onto a cotton swab. He then began to gently dab at Kenma’s wound to wipe away the excess blood. He winced in pain with each dab, but was otherwise very calm throughout the procedure.

Once Hajime finished disinfecting the wound, he placed a large, white bandage over it and put away his unused materials. Kuroo kneeled down closer to Kenma after the agent moved away and pulled him into a gentle embrace. “Are you alright?” He whispered to the other. 

“A little hungry, but I’m glad you’re here.” Kenma weakly responded. Kuroo giggled as he pulled the smaller one closer. 

“Um, I’m going to go downstairs to see if we can find anything else. Once you feel strong enough to stand, we can feed you downstairs. Then, we’ll talk.” Hajime said before exiting the room.

After walking down the stairs, Hajime noticed that the other three were all unpacking equipment from their bags in the room. “What’s going on?”

“Well, we’re out of gas in the Jeep, so I guess we’ll be camping here for the night. I sent out a dispatch to the office in town that we need help, but they won’t be coming until the morning.” Akaashi informed him as he went to go put the first aid kit down by the other bags.

“How’s Kenma? Is he alright?” Bokuto asked. 

“He’ll be fine. He’s still pretty weak, so they’re taking their time coming down.” Hajime informed them. Bokuto and Akaashi both sighed in relief at the news. 

“Hey Iwa-chan! I was just about to figure out how to turn on the backup generator, wanna help?” Oikawa chimed as he jumped up from his spot on the couch. 

“Yeah, sure.” Hajime responded as he followed Oikawa out the back door of the cabin. He closed the door behind him and moved over to the left, where there was a small, rusted generator sitting beside the house. Oikawa opened the panel on the side and began fiddling with the switches. 

“So, what do you think of the officers?” Oikawa asked as he continued trying different switch combinations. 

“They seem alright. I’m hoping that Officer Kenma can give us more detail on what’s causing all of this, however. It seems like he’s been through a lot.” Hajime explained. 

“Yeah, me t- ha! Got it!” Oikawa exclaimed as the generator roared to life. He then closed the panel and stood up. 

“Now that the power situation is taken care of, we should head back inside and see if our witness has anything to say about what we might be up against.” He said as the two officers headed back inside the cabin. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well this chapter is a little longer? i didnt want it to be too long so i cut it off at a weird spot
> 
> but im on vacation so i should be writing a lot more
> 
> thank you @ everyone that has left me kudos/comments,, i really appreciate the feedback


	5. Chapter 5

“Turn it off!! You can’t waste the energy we have left!” Kenma screamed as he fumbled down the stairs, Kuroo following close behind. “The sun is still out!! Turn everything off!” He blindly ran across the room in an attempt to get outside and to the generator, but instead ran face first into Hajime, who was closing the door.

Hajime gently grabbed his shoulders and led him to the couch, where Kuroo made him sit down. “Woah there, slow down. You need to sit down and explain everything first.” He turned to his partner and spoke. “Oikawa, please make sure all of the lights and appliances are off.” He nodded and began his sweep.

          Hajime then walked over to the group of officers on the plain, brown couches and took a seat facing them. “So, starting from the beginning, tell us everything you know about what is happening.” He calmly said to Kenma, who was still visibly frightened.

         Kenma gulped before answering. “It, um, started the second day of the trip. We were going around the top of the mountain to collect the tree samples we needed, when Narita accidentally cut too deep into one of the older trees. This swarm of, uh, green light flew out of the tree and vanished into the forest. We had no idea what it was, or what to do about it, so we just called it a day.” He took a breath and moved closer to Kuroo on the couch for comfort before continuing his story.

“Later that night when we were back at the cabin, the lights started to flicker. We just assumed that, you know, since we were so far up, the electricity was just having a hard time getting up here. And when Narita and Tanaka went out to make sure the lines were okay, they never came back. The rest of us… we tried to get back to base, but whatever got them destroyed the inside of the cars, too. We were completely stranded here.

“On the fifth morning, the four others that were left, except for me, decided to try and hike back down the mountain. I was too scared to leave. I’m assuming that they didn’t make it back?” Kenma looked to the officers on the couch beside him. Everyone shook their heads. Hajime spoke up. “So, are you sure it was the green swarm?”

“I haven’t seen it take anyone first hand, no, but I’ve been seeing it around all week. It seems to like the dark, though.” He responded.

“Is that why you were so scared that we turned the generator on? Because you didn’t want to waste the energy?” Oikawa chimed in. Kenma nodded.

Hajime sighed and stood up, facing the others. “Alright, so basically, we just have to ward off this… this parasite, until we’re rescued tomorrow morning. It’s starting to get dark, so I’ll start a fire to give us some natural light. Using the energy from the emergency generator should be a last resort. Lets try to finish unpacking before the sun goes down, alright?” Everyone nodded in response. 

Hajime clapped his hands together. “Okay good. Lets get to work.” The other officers dispersed throughout the room to continue organizing materials and setting up sleeping bags. Kenma, who was still too weak to do much, sat on the couch and chatted with his fellow officers as they worked. Hajime sighed before walking over to Oikawa and pulling him over to the side. “Do you mind helping me outside?”

A grin spread across his face as he responded. “Gee, Iwa-chan, you sure do love spending time alone with me.” Hajime rolled his eyes before leading his partner out the back door of the cabin once again. 

“I hate to break it to you, Spooky-kawa, but I just need help bringing firewood inside. I don’t think it’s a really good idea to be leaving the cabin once it gets dark, anyways.” Hajime informed as they walked over to the right side of the cabin opposite from the generator to a pile of pre cut wood planks. 

Oikawa pouted at the nickname. He started making a small pile of firewood in front of him to pick up as he talked. “Anyways, what’s your opinion on all of this, Mr. Scientist?” 

“In terms of whether a parasite could cause this, I don’t doubt it. Considering how old most of these trees are, they could’ve been hibernating for hundreds of years before being released. However, I don’t think that they’re any sort of extraterrestrial life form.” Hajime explained as he collected his own small pile of firewood to carry inside. He took a deep breath before lifting the pile of wood. Oikawa did the same with the pile that he gathered before responding. 

“And what makes you think that?” He questioned as they walked back over to the door to the cabin. 

“Well, it’s pretty common for species to go undocumented, especially smaller organisms like protists, parasites, and bacteria. Just because no one has come across the species doesn’t necessarily mean that it came from anywhere other than Earth.” Hajime continued to explain. 

“That’s very true, but we won’t know whether it’s extraterrestrial or not until we send in a sample to run through some tests back in DC.” Oikawa added before opening the door to go back into the cabin. 

Once they were inside, they could see that Kenma was still sitting on the couch, covered in a knit blanket and holding a steaming mug. Facing him from across the couch was Kuroo, who was holding a mug as well and chatting with the other. On the other side of the room, Bokuto sat at the picnic table as he looked over what looked like the field reports that were scattered around the cabin. Akaashi was working in the kitchen preparing some sandwiches with the ingredients that they brought up with them in a cooler, as well as a few more mugs holding tea bags. 

The two agents walked over to the right side of the room and placed the wood in a loose pile next to the fire place. Hajime took a few pieces and threw them on top of the pile of soot, causing a small plume of residue to cloud the area. He coughed and waved his hand in an attempt to clear the air of the soot before Oikawa walked up to him and handed him a box of matches. 

He mumbled a small “thanks” before striking a match against the side of the box and throwing it on the wood. The flames slowly spread across the fuel, which slowly started to light up the room. Hajime stood and tried to brush the soot off of his clothes before placing the box of matches on the mantle above the fireplace. He went to go fetch his back from the spot by the front door that his partner must’ve placed it for him. After grabbing the bag and the last sleeping bag, he walked over to the area in the center of the room behind the couches, where everyone else had already set up. 

Oikawa sighed in relief as he unzipped his coat and placed it next to his bag. “Ah, the heat feels so good!” He exclaimed as he stretched his arms in the air and yawned. He plopped down onto his own sleeping bag and pulled out a book to read along with the glasses he was wearing earlier that day when they first met.

Hajime smirked when he noticed the cover read “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams”, and had a little round, green alien drawn underneath the title.

Hajime removed his heavy winter coat as well and took out a black sweater from his bag before pulling it on. He then carefully laid out the plain maroon bag next to the other agent’s belongings. 

A few moments later, Akaashi emerged from the kitchen area with a small, white platter of ham sandwiches, Bokuto following close behind with mugs in each hand. They both set everything down on the coffee table in the lounge before sitting down on one of the couches together. 

“Hey, agents! Why don’t you come sit down? Akaashi made some tea for you two if you’re interested!” Bokuto called out from his spot on the couch. 

The two exchanged glances. “Well, I suppose we have nothing better to do.” Oikawa shrugged before getting up and walking over to the other officers. Hajime followed after the brunet and sat on the third couch next to him. 

“Thank you for the food.” He mumbled to Akaashi before reaching over to the coffee table and cautiously picking up one of the green mugs. The aroma coming off of the tea was sweet and soothing, and it tasted like chamomile with honey when he took a sip of the warm liquid. 

He looked outside the window to see that it was late in the evening, with the sun too close to the horizon to be visible above the trees. It casted a gradient of deep oranges and reds over the forest top that collided with the darkness of the onsetting night sky. He pulled away from the striking view to look around the room. Bokuto and Akaashi were on the couch furthest from his, Akaashi eating a sandwich as Bokuto animatedly told a story about his encounter with a rabid racoon during one of his shifts the previous week. Kuroo was on the center couch with Kenma, who was now comfortably resting his head on the larger man’s chest. 

He then looked over to Oikawa, who was curled up on the opposite side of the couch reading his book. The longer he stared, the more he appreciated how attractive his partner really was. He liked how his tousled chestnut hair had one cowlick that was more noticeable than the rest, how his hazel eyes squinted ever so slightly behind his reading glasses as he focused all of his concentration into reading the book in front of him, and how the flickering light from the fireplace danced over his well-defined jaw and cheekbones, creating subtle shadows. 

As Hajime looked back on the long day, he realized how much Oikawa helped him as well. Even though he talked his ears off about aliens and his mission to uncover “the truth” on the trip to their destination and gave him a cheesy nickname, he was also very kind to the other officers and helped him out with anything he needed so far. He was reliable, and that was good enough for him.

Even though he would never admit it, Hajime was beginning to enjoy the idea of having Oikawa as his new partner. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the late update daredevil came out and i had to watch it
> 
> i havent proofread this yet so i might edit it later 
> 
> im getting a little better on making chapters longer, but im still working on it sorryyy
> 
> thank you for comments/kudos!!!

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on tumblr @bakageyamaaa!


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